Jayhawks land first OL commit in 2017 with Hocker

As the Kansas coaches are trying to put their final touches on the recruiting class a big piece of news dropped for the 2017 class.

Shortly after noon Jared Hocker, one of the few offensive linemen offered for next year’s class, gave a verbal commitment to the Kansas coaches. Kansas assistant Kenny Perry recruits Hocker’s area and told offensive line coach Zach Yenser about him.

After Yenser evaluated his film the Jayhawks extended an early scholarship offer to the 6-foot-4, 290 pound offensive tackle.

He spent last weekend in Lawrence with his parents on an unofficial visit.

“When I was there it felt like a home environment and I enjoyed the place,” he said. “Everything that I heard was very positive. I wanted to help the program grow so I decided to commit to them.”

Hocker got a chance to spend time around the coaches and get to know them better. Yenser will be his position coach and they talked a lot about football and the future.

“Being around coach Yenser was great,” Hocker said. “He is a lot like my high school coach who I like a lot. I feel like I can learn a lot under him and continue to grow playing football with his instruction. He told me he liked my height and my size. He liked my footwork and how fast I was off the ball.”

After that Hocker was able to do a question and answer session with some of the current players.

“They seem like they enjoy themselves and really liked playing there (at Kansas),” Hocker said. “They made it sound like it was an amazing school and I wanted to be a part of it.”

As a sophomore Hocker started for Birdville High at right tackle, where he earned second team all-district honors. This season he moved to the left side and was voted first team all-district.

Schools including SMU, Rice, and Texas Tech showed early interest in Hocker. When he informed the Kansas this morning of his decision he got a warm welcome.

“They were extremely excited,” he said. “I think I am the first offensive line commit for 2017.”

Getting his decision out of the way will give him the opportunity to focus on getting to Lawrence early.

“It feels great and I have all of the weight off of my shoulders,” he said. “It lets me graduate early and I can get there and start preparing for my freshman year.”

He plans on enrolling early after his senior year so he can go through spring football in 2017.

He is the second known commitment for the 2017 class along with running back Dominic Williams.